The implications of quantum computers are wide, broad, and exciting. From artificial intelligence to healthcare, the global society of tomorrow will look different than it does today. The way we live, work, and play will enhance, in part because of quantum computers, similar to the way today’s computers took us on a trajectory to new heights in terms of our daily lives and business.

Homeland Security Research speculates that the market for quantum computing will reach $8.45 billion from product sales and services alone [1]. This is no surprise when we think about how many markets quantum computing will potentially revolutionize, such as healthcare, insurance, banking, and cybersecurity [1]. This is because with quantum computers problems can be solved in a short amount of time; today’s computers would take the time of the universe. This breakthrough would allow a lot of calculations to be made quickly, which is what the artificial intelligence (AI) market requires, particularly in its machine learning subfield [2]. Note that the AI market alone is projected to add $15.7 trillion to the global GDP in 2030 [3].

Some medicines are made of proteins, and there is some work today that deals with proteins and their interactions on a molecular level by simply using computers. But, the lack of computing power, in a way, stalls and puts a limit to how far we can study proteins, and medicine in general for that matter. Quantum computing removes these limits, given the amount of computing power quantum computers offer [4]. The self-driving car is another innovation companies and research labs are racing to bring to market. A key breakthrough for the self-driving cars may be its ability to learn through interaction with its environment [5]. This breakthrough can be achieved through machine learning, and machine learning, again, requires the computing power of quantum computing.

From healthcare to self-driving cars, tomorrow will look different. Quantum computers have a role in the revolution that is soon upon us as a global society. Though tomorrow will look different, hopefully it will look better.